Georgia State’s magic number is down to one.
Manny Atkins buried a 3-pointer from the corner with two seconds left and the Panthers knocked off Louisiana-Lafayette 80-77 on Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena.
Atkins wasn’t the only hero. Markus Crider scored a career-high 12 points, all in the second half, as the Panthers all but sealed at least a share of the Sun Belt’s regular-season title. Georgia State (20-7, 13-1) needs to win one of its four remaining games, or have Western Kentucky lose one, to secure a piece of its first conference title since 2001-02 when it was in the Atlantic Sun.
There could still be drama. The Panthers will host the Hilltoppers in the regular-season finale on March 8 at the Sports Arena.
The win improved Georgia State to 12-0 at home in front of 2,890 fans, the 12th-largest crowd in Sports Arena history.
Georgia State seemed to have everything in hand with a nine-point lead and less than three minutes on the clock.
But Louisiana-Lafayette scored nine consecutive points to tie the game at 77. The run was capped by Elfrid Payton, who missed the second of two free throws that would have given the Cajuns the lead with 30 seconds left.
After a timeout, Georgia State worked the ball to Atkins in the corner, who drilled the 3-pointer.
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